ADAPTING FOR SUCCESS IN A CHANGING WORLD WITHOUT LOSING YOUR SOUL: AVOIDING “PERFECT” ONLINE AVATARS FOR AUTHENTICITY

Those that make a living at such endeavors recommend that our message online be “authentic”. But they also have us present our “best” images of ourselves online so as to capture and keep attention.

We have always been confused by this seeming contradiction. We are told to be true to ourselves, but then in the next breath are instructed what to say, and how to look.
Moreover, we are shown examples of “perfect” presences.

“Be yourself, but not this way!”

It was a relief to see that I am not the only one who feels such.

I read with interest that “some young adults, weary of trying to live up to their annoyingly perfect online avatars, have created “finstagrams,” or fake Instagram accounts, that present truer versions of themselves than their main profiles. These locked, pseudonymous accounts capture something rarely seen by people who follow these same users on their main accounts: reality”.

“Fake Instagram accounts seem to be a distinct cultural product of people belonging to a generation raised with social media and smartphones. They are used to funneling their self-expression through many platforms, where their peers provide an instant response, much of it cutting….Because of this, finstagram, which is made for an audience of people who are tuned into the user’s point of view, has become, paradoxically, the “real” Instagram”.

So, authenticity is being sought by this Instagram generation in a Fake Instagram.

The headline captures a lot about this phenomenon, and just where we are at as a society, “On Fake Instagram, a Chance to Be Real”.